Universal dispensing closure for bottles



March 19, 1957 E. 1.. DU PREE 2,785,839

UNIVERSAL DISPENSING CLOSURE FOR BOTTLES Filed Dec. 29, 1954 INVENTOR ERNEST L. DUPREE ATTORNEYS UNIVERSAL DISPENSING CLOSURE FOR BOTTLES Ernest L. Du Pree, Weston, Conn., assignor to Schenley Industries, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application December 29, 1954, Serial No. 478,376 Claims. (Cl. 222-479) This invention relates to dispensing, and more particularly, to a closure which may be conveniently applied to a bottle and removed therefrom for application to another bottle, which closure serves to seal the bottle against inadvertent spillage of contents and against evaporation,

and also serves to permit convenient dispensing of the contents of the bottle in a smooth flowing stream.

Heretofore, many types of dispensing closures for bottles have been proposed and utilized, but many of these were relatively costly and also possessed numerous disadvantages such as failure to seal the contents of a bottle against evaporation and also failure to prevent inadvertent spillage of the contents in the event the bottle was tipped over or inadvertently inverted. Furthermore, these prior art dispensing closures, in many instances, did not provide a positive seal for the contents of the bottle, which would permit storage or transportation of the bottle in a horizontal or inverted position, and it was also nee essary when dispensing the contents to orient the bottle in a certain way in order to provide for proper venting of the interior thereof.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a dispensing closure for bottles which may be conveniently and economically manufactured by relatively simple molding operations from plastics or other suitable materials.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a dispensing closure for bottles which may be conveniently and economically manufactured by relatively simple molding operations from plastics or other suitable materials.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a dispensing closure for bottles or the like which will permit dispensing of the contents thereof in a smoothly flowing stream, regardless of the orientation of the bottle about its longitudinal axis.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a dispensing closure for bottles or the like in which the same may be conveniently sealed against inadvertent spillage of the contents and against evaporation thereof.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a dispensing closure for bottles or the like in which a single closure member is utilized to seal the same against inadvertent spillage of the contents and to also seal vent passages to prevent evaporation of such contents.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a dispensing closure for bottles or the like which may be conveniently applied to the same and utilized until the contents are exhausted and thereafter conveniently removed and applied to another bottle.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig 1 is a view in perspective showing a dispensing closure constructed in accordance with this invention and applied to a conventional bottle;

Fig. 2, a longitudinal sectional view of the dispensing closure constructed in accordance with this invention;

,nited States Patent 0 "ice Fig. 3, an inverted perspective view of the closure of this invention; and

Fig. 4, a sectional view taken substantially on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

With continued reference to the drawing there is shown a conventional bottle 10 with a closure 11 constructed in accordance with this invention and applied thereto and such closure 11 may well comprise a body 12 having a depending skirt 13 provided with internal screw threads 14 for reception on the screw threaded neck of the bottle. Also disposed within the recess provided by the skirt 13 is a gasket 15 which serves to provide tight sealing engagement between the closure 11 and the neck of the bottle 10.

Formed integrally with the body 12 and projecting inwardly beyond the skirt 13 is a projection 16 which may be circular or of any other desired cross section. The projection 16 is disposed substantially centrally of the body 12 and is provided with a dispensing aperture 17 having screw threads 18 therein, the aperture 17 at its inner end merging into a flared or tapered portion 19 communicating with the interior of the bottle 10. The dispensing aperture 17 terminates at its outer end in a cup shaped recess 20 and such recess 20 is surrounded by a surface 21 which provides a seat the purpose of which will be presently described.

As best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the flared or tapered portion 19 of the projection 16 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced grooves 22 which serve to provide ribs 23 between each pair of grooves 22 and disposed in the ribs 23 and extending through the projection 16 are a plurality of vent passages 24 which terminate at their outer ends in the cup shaped recess 20. The flared or tapered portion 19 and the grooves 22 permit free flow of the contents of the bottle 10 into the dispensing aperture 17 when the bottle 10 is inverted for dispensing of the contents thereof.

A closure member 25 is provided for sealing against inadvertent spillage and evaporation of the contents of the bottle 10 and the closure member 25 may well include an inner engaging portion 26 provided with a knurled surface to permit convenient manipulation thereof and the member 25 is also provided with a reduced screw threaded extension 27 which is adapted to threadedly engage in the threads 18 of the dispensing aperture 17. Disposed around the screw threaded reduced extension 27 is a gasket or washer 28 which when the closure member 25 is in closing position, as shown in Fig. 2, tightly engages the seat or surface 21 to seal the cup shaped aperture 20 thereby preventing dispensing of the contents of the bottle 10 through the dispensing 17 and also closing the vent passages 24 to prevent evaporation of the contents of the bottle 10.

As will be seen from an inspection of the drawing the vent passages 24 are disposed circumferentially around the projection 16 and consequently when the bottle 10 is tilted or inverted to dispense the contents thereof such contents will flow through the dispensing aperture 17 and also through any of the vent passages 24 which may be located on the lower side thereof. The upwardly disposed vent passages 24 will serve to admit air to the interior of the bottle 16 thereby permitting free flow of the contents thereof in a smooth stream from the cup shaped recess 20. Consequently, it is not necessary to orient the bottle 10 in any particular position about the longitudinal axis thereof since proper dispensing of the contents may be suitably vented through the upwardly disposed venting passages 24 to provide a freely flowing stream thereby preventing splashing or undue spillage of the contents during the dispensing operation. Obviously, with the closure member 25 installed with the threaded extension 27 engaging in the threads 18 of the dispensing aperture 17 and With the gasket or washer 28 engaging the seat 21, the bottle will be securely sealed against inadvertent spillage of the contents and also against evaporation and this will be true whether the bottle is in an upright position or disposed horizontally or in any other position for storage or transportation.

The dispensing closure of this invention maybe conveniently manufactured from any desired plastic or other materials and may be conveniently and economically molded in mass production to provide a closure at an extremely low unit cost. Furthermore, it will be seen that by the above described invention there has been provided an extremely efiicient dispensing closure for bottles which may be easily manipulated to open the same for dispensing.

the contents and thereafter closed to provide a secure seal against inadvertent spillage and evaporation and furthermore the closure maybe transferred from one bottle to another after the contents of the first bottle have been exhausted.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing frcrn tne spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawing and described in the specification but only as indicated'in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A, universal dispensing closure comprising a body, an internally threaded skirt on said body for threaded engagement with the neck of a bottle, an axially disposed projection integral with said body and extending beyond said skirt, a di pensing aperture extending through said projection and body axially thereof and terminating in a cup shaped recess in the outer face of said body, threads in said aperture, the inner portion of said aperture being flared and having a plurality of circumferentially arranged grooves in the innersurface of said flared portion to provide an enlarged entrance opening in the inner end of said projection, a plurality of circumferentially arranged vent passages in said projection extending from the inner end and terminating in said recess around said aperture, said passages being disposed between said grooves, a seat on the outer surface of said body surrounding said recess, a closure member having a re uced threaded extension for threadedly engaging in said aperture to close the same and'a sealing gasket received on said extension for engaging said seat to close said recess.

2. A universal dispensing'closure comprising a body, an internally threaded skirt on said body for threaded engagement with the neck of a bottle, an axially disposed projection integral with said body and extending beyond said skirt, a dispensing aperture extending through said projection and body axially thereof and terminating in a cup shaped recess in the outer face of said body, threads in said aperture, the inner portion of said aperture being flared and having a plurality of circumferentially arranged grooves in the inner surface of said flared portion to provide an enlarged entrance opening in the inner end of said projection, a plurality of circumferentially arranged vent passages in said projection extending from the inner end and terminating in said recess around said aperture, said. passages being disposed between said grooves, a seat on the outer surface of said body surrounding said recess, a closure member having a reduced threaded extension for thr'eadedly engaging in said aperture to close the same and sealing means on said member for engaging said seat to close said recess.

3. A. universal dispensing closure comprising a body, means on said body for engagement with the neck of a bottle, an axially disposed projection integral with said body, a dispensing aperture extending through said projection and body axially thereof and terminating in a cup shaped recess in the outer face of said body, threads in said aperture, the inner portion of said aperture being flared and having a plurality of circumferentially arranged grooves in the inner surface of said flared portion to provide an enlarged entrance opening in the inner end of said projection, a plurality of circumferentially arranged vent passages in said projection extending from the inner end and terminating in said recess around said aperture, said passages being disposed between saidv grooves, a seat on the outer surface of said body surrounding said'recess,a closure member having a reduced threaded extension for threadedly engaging in said aperture to close the same and sealing means on said member for engaging said seat to close said recess.

4. A universal dispensing closure comprising a body, means on said body for engagement with the neck of a a bottle, an axially disposed projection on said body, a dispensing aperture extending through said projection and body axially thereof and terminating in a cup shaped recess in the outer face of said body, threads in said aperture, the inner portion of said aperture being flared to provide an enlarged entrance opening in the inner end of said projection,'a plurality of circumferentially arranged vent passages in said projection extending from the inner end and terminating in said recess around said aperture, a seat on the outer surface of said body surrounding said recess, a closure member having a reduced threaded extension for threadedly engaging said aperture to close the same and sealing means on said member for engaging said seat to close said recess.

5. A universal dispensing closure comprising a body, means on said body for engagement with the neck of a bottle, an axially disposed projection on said body, a dispensing aperture extending through said projection and body axially thereof and terminating in a cup shaped recess in the outer face of said body, threads in said aperture, a plurality of circumferentially arranged vent passages in said projection extending from the inner end and terminating in said recess around said aperture, a seat on the outer surface of said body surrounding said recess,

a closure member having a reduced threaded extension for threadedly engaging in said aperture to close the same and sealing means on said member for engaging said seat to close said recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Flattering et al. Sept. 19, 1939 

